


The Mew Mechanation: A Pokémon Go Story

by J_A_Phillips



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-14 19:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9199334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_A_Phillips/pseuds/J_A_Phillips
Summary: A story written for my niece based off of Pokémon Go. A 10-year-old girl and her family and friends find themselves tossed in the middle of a fight that could shape the future of the Pokémon World.





	1. Chapter 1

**\- For Cynthia.**

* * *

Thea turned over in her bed as the sun's rays peeked through her window and across her face. Normally, she was a rather energetic little girl, but she always had a bit of trouble getting up out of bed, especially if she used up a bit too much of said energy the day before. That said, it was not as if she didn't understand the value of getting up before it got to be too late. As such, she made contingency plans for in case she slept too long. Namely, she had her computer set to start playing Justin Bieber songs at full volume in case she slept past a certain time. After a few seconds of Sorry, she immediately sat up, pulling her brunette bangs aside as she looked to the computer in annoyance.

 _Why did I decide on Bieber?_ The 10-year-old brunette wondered as she got out of bed and turned the music off. _And yup, I DO have to get angry at all of your 'honesty'._

Thea looked down at her pajamas. They were a light purple with Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander heads all across them. She was about to change out of them and into clean clothes when she heard a sort of twinkling sound come from her window. Her eyes brightened as she smiled widely, recognizing that sound. She immediately ran to her window and opened up, looking around outside before glancing up just in time to spot a pink, thin tail rush up across the side of the roof.

"...I'll play with you later!" she whispered up at the roof. "I gotta get my uncle up right now!"

With that, Thea slipped on a pair of Snorlax slippers and rushed out of her room, heading downstairs to the living room. Laying on the couch, snoring loud enough to wake the neighbours, was her 25-year-old redheaded uncle, Jaros, wearing a yellow t-shirt with a black Zapdos silhouette on the front, and a pair of dark blue boxers. Like Thea, he had also set up the downstairs computer to wake him up by playing music. Unlike her, however, he was sleeping straight through it, drool running down the side of his mouth.

"Aww, c'mon!" Thea grumbled, stomping over to her uncle and shaking him hard. "Wake up! It's morning!"

Jaros groaned, opening his blue eyes to look up at his niece before turning away and falling back to sleep. Thea growled, but quickly decided on a new, much better approach, having spotted his belt nearby, which had his team's Poké Balls set along it. Grabbing one labelled with a water emblem sticker, she opened it up, causing a Poliwhirl to pop out. With a mischievous grin, Thea pointed at her sleeping uncle. Getting the idea, the Tadpole Pokémon immediately launched bubbles from the swirl on its belly at Jaros, which popped hard on him.

"BAH!" Jaros cried, jolting hard and falling off the couch. He looked up lazily at his cackling niece, quickly putting together what had just happened. "...Was that REALLY necessary?!"

"Yup," Thea quickly replied. "C'mon, you told Mom you'd babysit me while she was away representing Team Instinct for control of the St. Frederick Gym. I don't think that meant you could sleep in past me."

"Can't you at least use your own Pokémon to wake me up?" Jaros demanded. "Or have you honestly still not gone to Professor Willow to get your starter?"

"I can't pick one, okay?" Thea admitted, blushing a little. "Now c'mon and get up, or I'm gonna tell Mom you needed me to get you up in the morning."

"Alright, alright, I'm up," Jaros grumbled as he got up, staring a hole through his Poliwhirl. "...As for you, Paul E., I hope you're remembering to practise using that Bubble attack for more than just tormenting your Trainer."

The Poliwhirl, Paul E., merely shrugged in response, clearly not caring much for his Trainer's scolding. He reached down and grabbed Jaros' black fedora with a yellow and black feather stuck in the brim, handing it to him. Jaros took the hat, muttering under his breath as he flipped it in his fingers before placing it on his head.

"You and that hat," Thea said with a giggle, heading to the bathroom.

"Hey, it's stylish, retro, and the ladies love it!" Jaros replied, pulling his jeans on.

"All two or three of them?!" Thea asked before shutting the bathroom door and locking it.

Jaros growled, looking down at Paul E. "...I'd LOVE to know where that girl gets her lip from."

Paul E. once again shrugged in response, just as the sound of someone doing a very bad imitation of a Dodrio cry sounded outside. Rolling his eyes, Jaros walked to the front door and opened it, looking upon a woman a couple of years younger than him with curly raven locks. She wore purple glasses, a black t-shirt with a picture of a Pikachu dressed as a conductor, grey yoga pants, pink sneakers, and a pink jacket with a yellow Zapdos pin. A Cubone was standing beside her, waving shyly.

"...Hey, Harmony," Jaros greeted his longtime friend, rival, and fellow member of Team Instinct.

"Did I wake you?" Harmony asked.

"No, the little monster did," Jaros replied with narrowed eyes.

Harmony blinked in confusion, looking to Paul E., causing Jaros to moan a little and say, "Well, okay, technically him, but under orders from the OTHER little monster."

"Ah, Thea," Harmony guessed. "Well, you shouldn't have stayed up so late."

"You're one to talk," Jaros grumbled. "If you didn't have to challenge for control of the Loyalist City Gym yesterday, you'd have been up just as late as me."

Harmony sighed hard. "Don't remind me of that, please…"

"Aww, did you lose again?" the two heard Thea ask as she suddenly walked out from behind Jaros, still wearing her PJs.

"Hey, little cutie," Harmony greeted with a small smile, giving the girl a hug. "Yeah, Team Valor whooped me again."

"Sounds like you could use some more training," Jaros suggested, folding his arms and smirking.

Harmony returned the smirk, standing up. "Is that a challenge? What do you say we settle this after breakfast?"

Jaros nodded, punching his right fist into his left palm. "Okay, let's dance!"

* * *

About an hour later, everyone was standing in a field out front of the house. Thea had changed into an oversized white shirt with a picture of Snorlax on the front, black shorts, black knee-high socks, and white sneakers. Jaros had put on his black jacket with the words 'TEAM INSTINCT' emblazoned on the back, as well as yellow and black sneakers. He was standing to one side of the field with Paul E., while Harmony stood on the other side with her Cubone, and Thea sat on the bleachers overlooking the action. A few other people from nearby houses had come and taken seats as well, deciding to watch this battle. And, unseen by all but Thea, a single pink Pokémon watched from atop her house with great interest.

"So, how about best of six one-on-one battles?" Harmony asked. "Those are usually good for quick training bouts."

"I'm game!" Jaros exclaimed confidently, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt and tossing it in the air. "Haunt R., go for it!"

"Elebelé, c'mon out!" Harmony called, tossing a Poké Ball of her own. The two balls opened to release a Haunter on Jaros' side of the field and an Electabuzz on Harmony's. "Low Kick!"

The Electabuzz, Elebelé, ran across the field and aimed a kick for her Ghost/Poison-type opponent. However, Haunt. R merely chuckled, turning into a puff of gas momentarily and letting the kick pass right through his body before sticking his tongue out at the Electric Pokémon. In a rage, Elebelé unleashed a small burst of electricity from her body at Haunt R., catching him between the eyes and knocking him to the ground. He quickly levitated back up off the ground and desperately darted around the field as the Electabuzz kept firing Thunder Shocks while swinging her arms around madly.

"Quit playing around!" Jaros ordered. "Dark Pulse!"

Jaros' Haunter nodded, the Gas Pokémon becoming a dark mist that floated through the blades of grass along the ground. He then reformed right in front of Elebelé, dark energy gathering in his disembodied hands, and hurled the Dark-type attack right in his opponent's face. Elebelé fell onto her back, smoke coming off her dazed face as her fingers twitched. She immediately returned to her Poké Ball, which flew back into Harmony's hand.

"Darnation!" Harmony cursed before looking down to her Cubone. "Cucubo, you're up next!"

"Good job, Haunt. R," Jaros commented, recalling the Ghost before tossing out a new ball. "Okay, Bulb A., I choose you!"

Bulb A., Jaros' Bulbasaur, popped out of the Poké Ball with a confident growl, landing on all fours before Cucubo. His Ground-type opponent quickly leaped forward, skull first, looking to slam into Bulb A., but he was too quick, slapping a pair of vines out from his bulb and to the ground hard to propel himself out of the way. However, Cucubo saw this coming, scooping up some loose mud from the field with his bone and slapping it across the field beneath Bulb A. The Grass/Poison-type slid across the mud as he landed, falling hard.

"Bone Club!" Harmony shouted, causing Cucubo to charge across the field and whack the Seed Pokémon in the head with his bone as he started to get back up. Bulb A. fell back down after a few seconds, a trio of tiny Pidgey apparently flying around his head.

"Aww man, poor Bulb A.," Jaros moaned as he recalled his Bulbasaur to his Poké Ball. "Better rest that noggin of yours."

"Good job, Cucubo!" Harmony cheered, high-fiving her Cubone before looking back across the field. "Gotta do better than that!"

"Try this!" Jaros yelled, pulling another ball free and chucking it over the field. "Licky T.!"

"Poreore!" Harmony shouted, tossing a new Poké Ball as well. The two opened up to release Jaros' Lickitung, Licky T., and Harmony's Vaporeon, Poreore. Immediately, Licky T.'s giant tongue rolled out of his mouth and gave Poreore a big lick, causing the Bubble Jet Pokémon to shiver in disgust.

"Cut that out!" Jaros admonished. "Use Zen Headbutt!"

"Water Gun!" Harmony called.

Poreore quickly leaped up into the air, firing a blast of water from his mouth at Licky T. Unfortunately, the Normal-type Pokémon powered through head first as blue light poured off his skull. He then leaped up and caught the Vaporeon in the gut, causing him to flinch in pain, before wrapping the Water-Type up with his tongue and slamming him into the ground, knocking him out.

"Oh, shoot!" Harmony cried as she slapped herself in the forehead, recalling Poreore to his ball before drawing a new one. "Okay, Fabalé, it's your turn!"

Harmony threw the ball hard over the field, which opened to reveal a Clefable. The Fairy-type Pokémon landed gracefully on the field, looking ready for battle. Seeing this new opponent, Licky T. immediately tried to lick her, too, but spotting this, Jaros sent him back to his Poké Ball.

"Wiggle E., this is your fight!" Jaros determined, hurling a ball that released his Wigglytuff. "Use Pound!"

"You use Pound too, Fabalé!" Harmony ordered. The two Fairies quickly leaped toward each other, their arms glowing white, and slamming their fists together, sending off a small shock wave through the grass. Fabalé, however, was quickest to make a move afterward, slapping Wiggle E. across the face. Outraged, the Balloon Pokémon puffed up to nearly twice her size and slapped Fabalé right back. The Clefable then returned this by jumping up and grabbing her opponent by the hair and shoving her face down into the ground.

"Uh oh…" Jaros muttered, watching as his Wigglytuff suddenly began turning red. She then leaped up and tackled Fabalé to the ground, dust coming up around the two as they started fighting wildly. However, this only lasted for a few seconds, as Wiggle E. was knocked back by a pink blast of energy from Fabalé and sent tumbling back across the field, almost colliding with Paul E. next to Jaros.

"Yay!" Harmony exclaimed, high fiving her Clefable before both gave the peace sign. "Who's top Fairy?!"

Wiggle E. puffed up hard, getting back up to stomp over to the two, but Jaros and Paul E. immediately leaped in to hold her back. "Whoa, Wiggle, better sit this one out!"

Letting herself deflate a bit, Wiggle E. returned to her Poké Ball, just as Fabalé returned to hers. Harmony then sent out a new Pokémon: A Pidgeot which flew over the field confidently. Thinking this over, Jaros selected one of the balls on his belt and tossed it out over the field, sending out a Hypno which was sitting cross-legged. He then sat up and let a pendulum drop from his left fist.

"Hypen O., bring it down with Confusion!" Jaros ordered, to which the Psychic-type held up his pendulum as it glowed red and created a red outline across the Pidgeot's body, dragging her down to the ground.

"Eotto, Steel Wing!" Harmony shouted. Hearing this, her Bird Pokémon let the Confusion attack drag her down as her wings glowed a sort of metallic grey. Using this momentum, she slammed her wings hard into Hypen O.'s gut, shoving him backward hard before he righted himself with his psychic powers while Eotto took off back into the air.

"Shadow Ball!" Jaros roared. Hypen O. nodded, dropping his pendulum and bringing his hands together to his side as a black ball of energy with purple crackles of electricity formed between his palms. He then sent his hands forward, launching the Shadow Ball hard at Eotto.

"Use Air Cutter!" Harmony yelled, Eotto flapping her wings and releasing a light blue X of energy that cut straight through the Shadow Ball and hit Hypen O. hard, knocking him out. "Yes, right on the button!"

"Oy, that's gonna need a Revive later…" Jaros noted, recalling his fallen Psychic-type to his ball.

"Down to our last Pokémon," Harmony noted, returning Eotto to her ball before drawing her final Pokémon's Poké Ball. "Bring home the win, Melelon!"

Harmony tossed the ball, sending out her Charmeleon, who stood confidently in the middle of the field. Recognizing this as his fight, Paul E. immediately ran out into the field, raising both fists. Melelon made the first attack, swiping his claws at the Tadpole Pokémon, who managed to block the attacks with his large gloves. Melelon then swung his blazing tail, sending out embers to burn the Poliwhirl, but Paul E. was just able to duck under it. He then leaped backward, firing shots of mud from his gloves that smacked Melelon hard.

"Use Flamethrower!" Harmony ordered.

Melelon smiled deviously, taking in a deep breath as the flame on his tail grew brighter. He then wheezed out a huge column of fire at Paul E., who held up his gloves to try and block the attack. Nonetheless, he was still getting scorched hard.

"Power through with Bubble Beam!" Jaros shouted, Poliwhirl dropping his hands and releasing a beam of light blue bubbles from the swirl on his stomach. The bubbles shot through the flames, putting them out, before smacking into Melelon, knocking him back across the field end over end. Finally, the Fire-type stopped on his back in front of his Trainer, his eyes spinning around and around.

"Nice going, Paul E.!" Jaros cheered before a thought struck him like a brick to the side of the head. "...Hey, wait, who won?"

Harmony recalled Melelon to his Poké Ball as she wondered the same. "Well, we both won three battles each...I guess it's a tie?"

Jaros nodded. "I guess so. Man, you're getting tougher all the time. Guess I need to keep it up too, or I'm gonna get left in the dust."

"Well, at least the crowd enjoyed the battle," Harmony pointed out, looking over at the bleachers as the people watching applauded, only to notice one particular absentee. "...Hey, where'd Thea go?!"

Jaros' eyes shot wide open. "Gah! Oh man, I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her! Where'd she go?!"

"I think I saw her head around the bush over there!" one of the neighbours yelled, hiking a thumb to some bushes a few yards to his left.

"Thanks!" Jaros yelled back, running over to the bushes with Paul E., Harmony, and Cucubo right behind him. Within a few seconds, he spotted Thea sitting on the ground. "There you are! Why'd you take off like tha-"

Jaros' jaw dropped at what he saw, as did Harmony's when she came up from behind him. It was as if reality had taken the first bus out of town, and they were now left looking into the realm of Bizarro World. For there, just a couple of feet from them, was Thea… … ...playing with a Mew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...So I should probably make something clear from the get-go: This is a story I wrote for my 10-year-old niece right around the time of her birthday. So if for any reason this story feels a little lacking compared to some of my other work, that is why. Also, because it was late enough as it was, some of the ideas got condensed. I suppose I could've made the one posted here a sort of 'writer's cut' version, but I opted to post it as is for now, and if I ever decide to do a revamped, extended version for the story later on on my blog or wherever, that'll be then.
> 
> Other than that, you might recognize the characters of Jaros and Harmony from my abandoned X & Y fanfic (abandoned because I ultimately lost interest AND the rest of what I was going to write at some point). I decided to reuse them here since they were loosely based off of myself and N. Harmonik, just like how Thea is based off of my niece, and one or two additional characters who show up in the future will be based off of real life people as well.
> 
> I decided to take some liberties with how Pokémon Go works in terms of battles. Specifically, they don't need to wait around quite as much for their charge-up moves, and they aren't stuck with just a single one of the standard attacks, instead being able to use any standard attack they can learn in Go. So, for example, Poliwhirl can use Bubble AND Mud Shot along with his charge-up move.
> 
> Lastly, yes, I HAVE played Pokémon Go. It's alright, but it just isn't for me, though that's partly because I don't have a data plan for my phone, so I pretty much had to leech data from N. Harmonik whenever we went out to play the game. Otherwise, a major issue of mine is, as you can guess from what I talked about above, the battle system. I get that it's likely meant to be simplified for the sake of people who either didn't play the main games or wanted a new experience (or for memory restraints, who can really say), but the thing is, I DO play the main games, and frankly, I still prefer to play them over the side games. Not to say the side games are bad, mind you, I've found at least a few I've been able to enjoy, but most of them just aren't for me. I might give it another chance when trading and/or more Pokémon and modes are added, but for now, it's just not my thing. But, with that said, I'm glad people are enjoying it, and I hope the game continues to improve.
> 
> Anyway, check in next time when Jaros and Harmony learn more about Thea's little secret, right before their world turns upside down. Ja né!


	2. Chapter 2

Thea turned bright red as she turned to face her uncle and his friend. She felt like she was 3-years-old all over again with her hand caught in a cookie jar. For what felt like an hour, no one said anything, all the while Mew just looked over the group, apparently curious as to the nature of how human beings can be so dumbfounded that it robs them of the ability to speak. If not for the fact that it was trying to keep from being seen by them up until now, meaning it likewise felt caught, it probably would've found this situation quite entertaining.

Jaros, on the other hand, was just trying to process this. It was one thing when he found out his niece had run off and thought she'd gotten herself into trouble. Now, as it turned out, she was playing with a Mythical Pokémon. Few believed Mew even existed, and here one was playing with his 10-year-old niece. He wasn't sure whether to scold Thea, grab an empty Poké Ball and try to catch Mew, or just stand there dumbfounded for the rest of the day.

Harmony, however, was quicker to come to a decision. Out of pure instinct, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an Ultra Ball. Mew must've caught a glimpse of this, though, because it immediately reached out with its psychic powers to toss Harmony several feet across the ground, its eyes glowing bright blue.

"WHOA!" Harmony shouted as she finally came to a stop. Seeing this, Cucubo and Paul E. immediately prepared for battle, but Thea jumped in front of Mew, her arms out to her sides.

"Stop!" Thea cried, keeping a defensive stance in front of Mew. "Mew didn't mean any harm, it just...it doesn't want to be caught!"

Jaros was still trying to process all of this, but seeing Thea so adamantly protect Mew, he finally went into action, holding Paul E. back. "Easy, buddy! Cucubo, you too!"

The two Pokémon looked a bit uncertain, but conferred to Jaros, standing down. Mew, however, remained behind Thea, still a little afraid. Harmony got back up and dusted herself off, putting the Ultra Ball away.

"I'm sorry," Harmony apologized. "It's just, it was instinct. I've never seen a Mythical Pokémon before."

"How long have you been hanging around with Mew?" Jaros inquired, taking his hat off and running his fingers through his hair.

Thea blushed and squirmed a little, Mew doing the same behind her. "Umm...about a year now?"

Jaros' jaw nearly hit the ground at this revelation. "A YEAR? Does your mother know about this?!"

"No," Thea admitted, scuffing her feet at the dirt. "Like I said, Mew doesn't wanna be caught in a ball, and Mom's kind of an Ace Trainer. Plus, Mew's kinda shy."

Peering over Thea's shoulder, it was easy for Harmony to recognize this. Despite myths of Mew's incredible strength, this one seemed to be a bit on the scared and timid side. She reached down and scooped up Cucubo, holding it to her chest and smiling warmly at Mew.

"It's okay, Mew," Harmony said assuringly. "No one here is gonna hurt you."

Mew looked to Thea, who nodded to the small Psychic-type. Feeling a bit reassured, Mew floated up off the ground and hovered alongside Thea, no longer using her as a shield. As it did so, Jaros pulled out his cellphone and used his Pokédex app to scan it.

"Wow, for such a shy Pokémon, it's super strong!" Jaros exclaimed. "Its Charge Attack is Psychic. That explains how it tossed Harmony just by thinking it."

"Y'know, it occurs to me that, if Mew doesn't wanna be seen by everyone, this isn't the best place for it to be," Harmony pointed out.

Realizing she was right, the lot of them decided to head back to the house, all the while keeping Mew as covered as possible. However, unbeknownst to them, someone had already spotted them. Standing atop a tall building far away, watching the group through a pair of binoculars, was a man with neck-length brown hair, wearing a long black trench coat, black gloves, a dark blue dress shirt, a black tie, black jeans, and brown boots. His coat bore a pin resembling the shape of a Dragonite, and he had a bluetooth in his ear.

"This is Tetch," the man said into his bluetooth's microphone. "Target M-01 acquired. Permission to proceed with extraction."

"Permission granted," a filtered voice replied. "Be discreet as possible, but above all else, prioritize your mission's success. For the Resurgence."

"For the Resurgence," Tetch muttered, his lips twisting into a dark smirk.

* * *

Jaros sighed, letting himself drop back down onto the couch. It was late in the day, and his Pokémon had already eaten and been sent back to their balls, so now it was his turn to get some sleep. The day had gone by rather slowly, but it was spent mostly watching Thea play with Mew, who he'd agreed to let stay in the house until his sister got home, while Harmony took notes on Mew's behaviour. Speaking of, Harmony had decided to spend the night as well, since she didn't have any Team Instinct missions to fulfill, and the chance to observe a Mythical Pokémon was far too fascinating and exciting a prospect to turn down.

"It's amazing how child-like Mew is," Harmony noted, going over everything she'd written down one last time and having changed into her pink Cleffa pajamas. "I had expected a Pokémon rumoured to be among the oldest living species to be a bit...different. I wonder if that's why it seems to keep coming back to Thea?"

"Maybe," Jaros replied. "But I've got my own theory on that."

"Oh yeah?" Harmony asked with a smirk. "By all means, let's hear it."

Jaros sighed, laying back with his arms folded behind his head. "Thea's been procrastinating going to see Professor Willow about getting her first Pokémon, and it's been excuse after excuse with her. First that she wanted to go over her notes on what she knew about them, then that she was waiting to see what her friends picked, and so on. And you remember what she said about Mew."

"You think she's intentionally holding back on becoming a Trainer so that Mew will keep seeing her?" Harmony inquired, tilting her head.

"I think, whether she realizes it or not, that she's scared that Mew might be afraid to come back," Jaros answered. "It might not be afraid to be around US, but you notice that Thea has to at least be in the room to assure it that we're good folk? But now imagine if Thea was a Trainer, too."

Harmony frowned sadly, setting her sleep bag on the floor. "You might be right. But her mom's not gonna let her keep putting off a visit to Professor Willow for much longer before she either thinks something's wrong or that Thea just doesn't want to be a Pokémon Trainer anymore. Sooner or later, she's gonna find out the truth."

"I'm surprised she hasn't already," Jaros admitted. "She's usually way too observant to let something like this fly under the radar. Thea must be getting better at the secret-keeping thing."

"Better than YOU, you mean?" Harmony asked teasingly, slipping into her bag.

Jaros' jaw dropped slightly. "Hey, I can keep secrets!"

Harmony folded her arms. "Oh yeah? Tell me something, Jaros: How did you catch Paul E.?"

"Well, my family was moving one day, and I fell out of the truck into a mud pile, and-" Jaros started to explain before getting where Harmony was going with this. "...And Paul E. said, 'Jaros, you stink at keeping secrets'. Wow, I'm bad at this."

"Maybe when your sister gets home, you should just leave without saying anything," Harmony joked, turning away and getting comfy in her sleeping bag. "No eye contact or anything."

"I really hate you some days," Jaros growled, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two downstairs, Thea was awake and listening to them as she laid in bed, cuddled up to the sleeping Mew. Thea frowned sadly, wondering if her uncle and his friend were right or not. Was she really afraid to be a Trainer if it meant scaring Mew away? Feeling Mew up close to her, knowing how painful it would be to never see it again, it was becoming more and more clear that that was exactly what was going on.

Before she could consider this any further, though, Thea's eyes widened in horror as she heard the sound of her window slowly being forced open behind her. There was no question: Someone was trying to break into her room. However, this meant they probably thought she was asleep.

Thea saw the shadow loom over her as the window was opened, the figure beginning to slip inside. Keeping most of her body as still as possible, she reached to her nightstand, grabbing her flashlight that she kept there in case of power outages. Her grip tightened as she heard a creak next to her bed, sweat rolling down her forehead as she knew the intruder was close. However, despite her fear and the fact that, based on the shadow, this was a grown adult sneaking up on her, as she felt Mew in her other arm, she knew one important thing in her heart.

No matter what happened next, she was going to give this intruder hell.

* * *

"I'm just saying, most people catch their first Pokémon in the tall grass," Harmony went on, "or fish them out of a pond, but you? Nope, you slipped and fell in a mud pile and ended up landing on him. Because, what, you decided to do it with style?"

Jaros sneered. "Yeah, well, at least some of us don't accidentally trip and slam head first into the stone skull their first Pokémon wears ALL THE TIME."

Harmony's jaw dropped indignantly. "...Dude, that only happened once!... … ...Okay, maybe twice, but I-"

The two were interrupted in the middle of their bickering by the sound of a loud crash from upstairs, followed by a scream they knew belonged to Thea. Without a second's hesitation, the two got to their feet and raced upstairs and barged into her room, spotting her being held up by a man in black as she tried smacking him in the arm over and over with her flashlight. Mew was also being held up, but with some sort of device that was keeping it in an electrified orb of energy.

"LET HER GO!" Jaros roared, hands on his Poké Balls in an instant. Without missing a beat, the intruder tossed Thea at Jaros, sending the two tumbling to the ground.

"Sorry, no time, can't stay!" Tetch yelled, tossing a pair of Ultra Balls at the floor, releasing a Gengar and an Alakazam.

"Make time, creep!" Harmony shouted back, sending out Cucubo and Eotto. Before they could even react, though, Alakazam used his spoons to wrench the Cubone's bone from his hands, sending it tumbling across the floor, just before he rushed forward and punched Cucubo into Eotto, knocking the two and their Trainer clean out of the room.

"I believe I warned you!" Tetch taunted as he turned to leave, only to find Gengar and Alakazam getting shoved back against him by Hypen O. and Haunt R. while Jaros got back to his feet.

"You're not going anywhere with Mew!" Jaros exclaimed. "Hypen O., Shadow Ball! Haunt R., Dark Pulse!"

"Gengar, Sludge Bomb!" Tetch ordered. "Alakazam, Dazzling Gleam!"

The four Pokémon immediately charged up their various attacks, pressing up against each other as they built up energy. Realizing where this was going, Jaros grabbed Thea and ran down the hall, Harmony just behind them, before the quartet of attacks exploded in a large shockwave. It launched the three against a wall, knocking Jaros and Thea out immediately. Harmony, however, managed to stay awake just long enough to see their Pokémon unconscious on the floor in front of the smoking ruins of Thea's room. Tetch and Mew were nowhere to be seen.

"Mew…" Harmony moaned, trying to get back up, only to collapse as the world around her went dark…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks if I feel irresponsible putting stuff like I did here in a fanfic intended for a little girl, I would just like to point out that said little girl thoroughly enjoys Five Nights At Freddy's, a game that generally scares the heck outta me. And it's not even like she doesn't get what's going on in the game, either. She understands EXACTLY what's going on in the games, and finds them legitimately entertaining. In other words, this little girl clearly has more fortitude than me, her 31-year-old uncle, so I'm not too worried about possibly scaring her, nor did I as it turned out. lol
> 
> Anyway, be sure to read next chapter to learn the aftermath of what happened, who Tetch is, and why he kidnapped Mew. Ja né!


	3. Chapter 3

Marie looked around erratically as she entered the emergency wing of the hospital, her dark purple hair looking frizzled and her Team Instinct black and yellow uniform a little disheveled. She'd gotten the call while she was in St. Frederick, having just won the Gym for Team Instinct, and pretty much forewent using her car to get back, instead flying back to Loyalist City on her Charizard. She ran to the front desk, immediately greeted by a doctor.

"Marie Hicks!" Marie exclaimed.

"You're here about your brother and daughter?" the doctor asked, getting a quick nod. "They're both alright. He's in the waiting room with his friend, and she's being checked over for anything major, but it's looking good so far."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Marie sighed. "Where is she?"

"B-7, just down the left hall," the doctor explained, Marie heading down it pretty much immediately. She quickly came across Jaros and Harmony in the waiting room, the former looking straight down at the floor and clutching his hat in both hands and the latter putting her cell phone away.

"Jaros, Harmony," Marie said, taking her brother into a hug. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine," Jaros muttered, not making eye contact with his older sister.

"I just got off the phone with Spark," Harmony said. "He thinks he has a lead on that creep who attacked us."

"C'mon, I need to see my daughter, NOW," Marie replied, grabbing the two by the hands and hauling them to room B-7. Entering the room, the trio was faced with Thea asking lots of different questions to the doctor looking her over about the different machines and instruments sitting around the room. The doctor turned to face them, smiling amicably as she walked over to them.

"...Marie Hicks, right?" the doctor asked, getting a nod. "I'm Doctor Renee Jackson. I've been...entertaining Miss Thea here."

"Renee's been telling me all about concussions," Thea added, giving her mother a hug from the bed. "Mom, have you ever had a concussion?"

"I think your uncle has once or twice," Marie joked, holding her daughter tight. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," Thea answered, looking down a little. "But...I'm worried about Mew. That man took it away. We need to find Mew."

"We're working on that, honey," Marie explained softly. "I promise, we're going to find Mew. First, we need to know who that man was."

"His name is Tetch," a voice said as someone entered the room. The group all turned to see, to their surprise, a blond young man wearing a black leather jacket over a yellow hoodie and a Zapdos necklace.

"S-Spark!" Harmony exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting you to come here to brief us personally."

"Well, this is a rare situation," Spark, the leader of Team Instinct, replied. "Doctor, I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a couple of minutes."

Renee looked confused, but did as he said, shutting the door behind herself as Spark continued. "Tetch is a member of Team Risen. They're made up of former members of Teams Instinct, Mystic, and Valor."

Marie blinked, baffled. "Another team of Trainers? I've never even heard of them."

"And there's a reason for that," Spark explained. "They're a group of underground operatives led by a man who thinks ordinary Trainers shouldn't have access to Pokémon, that humanity only serves to hold Pokémon back, and that only members of Team Risen can truly bring out a Pokémon's wild power."

"Wild...power…?" Harmony asked.

"Their leader, a man named Trask, believed he knew of a way to unleash a Pokémon's full potential without the need to train them," Spark went on, digging out his cell phone and showing the picture of a middle-aged man with a silver goatee. "Believing that using standard human training weakened them in the sense that they no longer truly battled as nature intended, he felt that by harnessing a strong enough source of primal psychic energy and transmitting it across the world, he could undo what humanity has done to Pokémon. Because this likely meant he'd need a Legendary Pokémon to achieve this, only high-ranking members of all three teams, and Professor Willow himself, know about Team Risen."

"So why are you telling _us?_ " Jaros inquired.

"Because we need to stop them now, before they can use Mew for their plans," the leader of Team Instinct answered. "Luckily, we've managed to find Team Risen's HQ, and the other team leaders and I are putting together a group of Trainers to storm their building and retrieve Mew. And since you're all already involved, and are aware of Mew's existence, my options are either to let you join Team Instinct's squad, or have you all placed in protective custody. Not exactly thrilled with that second option, though."

Thea stepped up to Spark, staring up into his eyes sternly. "I'm in! Let's go save Mew!"

"Hold on a second!" Marie admonished. "This sounds like a really dangerous mission, and you don't even have a Pokémon of your own yet! And even if you did, I'd be VERY concerned about the idea of you being anywhere near that place!"

"But Mom, Mew is my friend!" Thea cried. "I have to help it!"

Spark smiled sympathetically, kneeling down to put a hand on Thea's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Thea, but I have to agree with your mother. Without Pokémon of your own, if you ran into trouble, you'd be putting yourself at risk.

Thea looked down at the floor sadly, Jaros patting her head as a thought occurred to him. "Hey, wait a second. How did you even find Team Risen's base, anyway? I thought you said they worked all secret-like?"

Spark nodded as he stood up, showing the group the image of a map with a pink line on it on his phone. "By kidnapping Mew, Team Risen have led us to their hideout. As far as we can tell, Mew's psychic cries are basically acting as a distress beacon, and it's showing up on practically every radar in the world."

"Then Team Risen should know about it, right?" Harmony asked, getting a nod in reply. "Oh man, then they must be desperate to pull this off."

"It's entirely possible they saw Mew's interactions with Thea as their only chance," Spark explained. "How they even found out about Mew being in Loyalist City, I have no idea. Regardless, we need to hurry to meet up with Blanche and Candela's squads. I have a helicopter headed here to pick us up in about 30 minutes, so you should get ready while you can."

"Right," Marie said with a sigh. "Honey, I'm sorry, but-"

Marie stopped as she looked down to where Thea was standing. The only problem was, Thea wasn't there anymore. The group looked around the room, but it didn't take long for them to realize, with the door slightly ajar, that Thea had taken off.

"...HOW?!" Spark demanded, confused as to how Thea managed to sneak out without anyone seeing.

"Word of advice: Never try to play hide and seek with that kid!" Jaros answered as the four ran out of the room, looking up and down the halls. "Darnit, she could be anywhere!"

"...I think I know where she is," Marie whispered, her eyes widening.

* * *

Thea tried her best to will her tears back as she ran down the hill from the library, reaching a bridge that extended over a small brook. She'd heard rumours of Pokémon who would occasionally appear down there, but that they were the kind who could only enjoy the polluted muck that ran down through the river from the nearby refinery. Not usually her favourite kind of Pokémon. And yet…

Sure enough, as she slid down to the grass on the edge of the brook, she saw him: A Grimer. He was a touch gross-looking and smelled bad, likely why he liked the brook, but he was nonetheless the first Pokémon she saw, the easiest for her to find. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an empty Poké Ball, which she'd stolen out of Jaros' pocket, but before she could throw it, Grimer spotted her and chucked mud at her, causing her to dodge out of the way.

"THEA!" she heard her mother yell as she saw Marie, Jaros, Harmony, and Spark run down the hill toward her. "What do you think you're doing, young lady?!"

"Mom, I have to do this!" Thea argued. "Mew only got caught because of me, because I was playing with it outside! And I couldn't save Mew because I was too scared to become a Trainer! I thought Mew might never come back, but if I had Pokémon, maybe I could've done something last night!"

Before Thea could continue making her point, Grimer managed to smack her in the back hard with a Mud Slap, knocking her down. Marie grit her teeth at the laughing Grimer, about to summon her Charizard on the Sludge Pokémon, but Jaros caught her wrist, stopping her.

"What are you-?!" Marie demanded.

"Let her do this, sis," Jaros said, eyes on Thea as she fought to get back up in the slippery mud. "I get it. She wants to make up for feeling weak and helpless. I...I should've been able to save Mew, too. I failed. Not only did I fail, I got my niece hurt when I was supposed to be watching out for her."

Marie's expression softened as Jaros went on, finally putting his fedora back on. "But I'm gonna make up for that. And we have to give Thea the chance to do the same thing."

Marie sighed, understanding Jaros' position. She looked back to Thea as she got back to her feet. The 10-year-old wiped the mud from her face on her sleeve and stared a hole through Grimer, more determined than her mother had ever seen her before. At that point, Marie knew beyond all doubt that her daughter was ready for this.

"...You can do it, Thea!" Marie shouted, cheering her daughter on. The others soon followed suit, Thea smiling a little at this as she readied the Poké Ball again. Once again, Grimer threw a handful of mud at her, but instead of dodging, she raised her left arm and braced herself, taking the hit. She then chucked the ball at the Poison-type Pokémon, pulling him inside in a flash of light as it opened. The ball then fell in the grass, shaking around for a few seconds before lying still, releasing a small pinging sound.

Thea jumped up into the air and cheered loudly before running over and grabbing the ball. She smiled widely at it, her first Pokémon, before turning around to face her friends and family as they came down to greet her, giving them the peace sign.

"You did a great job, Thea," Marie congratulated, cleaning her daughter up a bit. "And somehow, you managed to come out of this looking cleaner than your uncle did with his first catch."

Jaros harrumphed as everyone else laughed. "You guys are NEVER gonna let me live that down, are you?!"

Spark chuckled a little before looking skyward, spotting a black helicopter with a yellow Zapdos silhouette painted on the side. "The chopper's here. We need to go, now. Marie, what's it going to be?"

Marie sighed, kneeling down to look her daughter in the eye. "...Alright, Thea. I understand how important this is to you. But just remember, this isn't going to be like the battles you've seen Jaros and I in. This is going to be dangerous, and if you're coming, I need to know that you're going to be careful. And you'll have to stay by me or your uncle at all times. Understood?"

Thea nodded, keeping a serious expression. "...Okay, Mom."

Marie smiled, giving her daughter a tight hug. Thea hugged her mother back, all the while looking up at the helicopter as it slowly lowered down to the nearby road.

_...Hang on, Mew,_ Thea thought, clutching Grimer's ball tightly. _I'm coming to save you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here was basically my thought process for Team Risen: We've had the team that tried to liberate all Pokémon because they essentially were animal rights activists that were taking things to a violent extreme. Granted, turned out they were working for a complete liar in that regard, but by and large, that was their motivation. So I thought, why not have a team who is trying to liberate Pokémon from humans because they think humans make Pokémon WEAKER? They want Pokémon to go back to being primal animals who don't focus their efforts through different techniques humans come up with, but instead through sheer brutality, and think themselves as the only Trainers who can handle that kind of power and not hold them back.
> 
> Also, Marie is of course loosely based off of my sister, and the nurse in this chapter is based off of Emmybomber. Not something she explicitly asked me to do or anything, I just thought it'd make for a cute little cameo. And Hicks is actually my mother's maiden name, so that's why I used it here.
> 
> Anyhow, that's all for this chapter. Check in next time as the assembled Trainers of Teams Mystic, Instinct, and Valor take on Team Risen in an all-out brawl. Ja né!


	4. Chapter 4

Tetch growled lowly as he dropped down onto the roof of Team Risen's headquarters, a rather large building in the middle of a group of mountains, off the back of his Aerodactyl. Recalling the Fossil Pokémon, he entered the building with Mew, who was still contained within the electrified energy dome.

Making his way through the base, Tetch passed by several Trainers, all dressed in similar trench coats with Dragonite pins. Eventually, though, he came to a large chamber with a holding pen hooked up to a satellite. Standing before it was Trask, looking unhappy as Tetch entered the room.

"Get it inside, NOW!" Trask ordered, Tetch quickly placing Mew inside the holding pen. "Activating the machine is going to require time, and we have VERY little! You should've made absolute sure the target was ready for safe transport!"

"As I recall, your orders were to prioritize the mission's success!" Tetch argued. "And anyway, how soon could they possibly have a sizeable force ready to storm this place?!"

Trask didn't say anything. Instead, he pointed to a large viewscreen, which showed not one, not two, but twenty-seven helicopters entering their airspace, all marked with the emblems of Teams Valor, Instinct, and Mystic. Tetch felt the blood in his face turn ice cold at this.

"...Right," Tetch muttered. "I'll gather the troops. They won't make it to the central chamber."

"You'd better be right about that," Trask replied as Tetch headed out to gather up the other members of Team Risen. "Or there'll be no place in the new world for you…"

* * *

Thea, Marie, Harmony, and Jaros watched on from the inside of their helicopter as they flew over the mountains. Ahead of them was a large building, most likely to be Team Risen's base. Based on the signal they were getting from Mew's psychic cries, Tetch had only arrived a few minutes ahead of them.

"Man, sure is lucky these choppers are top of the line!" Jaros yelled over the helicopter blades' spinning. "Otherwise, I don't think we'd have made it here so quick!"

"Spark says that Team Risen is getting their Trainers set up around the outside of the building!" Marie reported, listening to the bluetooth in her ear. "He says they're usually pretty fond of Dragon-types, but to expect a lot of Flying, Fire, and Water-types, too!"

"So go with Pokémon that are good against them, then!" Harmony responded. "Otherwise, we should probably try to stay with the other Trainers and go for group attacks!"

"So Grimer and I should probably do that!" Thea suggested. "And the last one to beat the bad guys buys the pizza!"

"That's probably gonna be me…" Jaros muttered, albeit with a chuckle.

"HANG ON!" Marie shouted, just in time for the helicopter to swerve out of the way of a pair of Fearow attempting to skewer the side of the chopper with their large beaks. "Charizard, give us some air support!"

Marie hurled a Great Ball out the side of the chopper, releasing her Charizard into the air. The Fire/Flying-type let out a mighty roar before flying after the Fearow, beating both across their sides with his wings. They quickly righted themselves as a Gyarados and three Koffing joined them. Luckily for Charizard, though, he soon found himself backed up by Eotto, Haunt. R, and a few other sky-worthy Pokémon from the other helicopters. Within moments, it was chaos in the skies as the two sides went at it, both getting progressively more back-up, though it ultimately left the helicopters unhindered in their attempts to land a few yards away from Team Risen's HQ.

Getting down on the ground, Jaros looked ahead. Standing before them were at least three dozen Trainers, all with their own teams. While they were varied, the majority of the ground forces were made up of Dratini, Dragonair, Seadra, and Gyarados. Luckily, more than a few of the allied teams had Fairy-types, as Clefairy, Clefable, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, and Mr. Mime were already being sent out. Seeing this, Jaros immediately called out Wiggle E., as Harmony likewise summoned Fabalé. Meanwhile, Spark had joined up with the other team leaders, Blanche and Candela, and sent out their aces: Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon.

"Stand down!" Candela yelled to the Team Risen Trainers. "This doesn't have to end in violence!"

"Like hell it doesn't!" a familiar voice yelled, revealing itself to be Tetch. He quickly called out his Gengar, Alakazam, and Aerodactyl, who formed up around him. "Mew is ours, and no one will take it from us!"

"Mew is NOBODY'S!" Thea screamed, balling a fist before bringing out Grimer. With that, everyone else on both sides called out the rest of their Pokémon, all taking sides. Members of both sides couldn't help but be in awe as nearly every kind of Pokémon, except for Legendaries, was present, from Bulbasaur to Dragonite.

"...Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten me into," Harmony muttered to Jaros and Marie.

Jaros smirked. "Like you aren't loving this."

Harmony shrugged, returning Jaros' smirk. "...Well, maybe I'll rank up a little after this."

"Stay frosty, guys," Marie said to the two before glancing back to her daughter. "Thea, stay close to us, okay?"

Thea nodded to her mother just as the two sides started walking toward each other. Within seconds, their walk turned to a run, and soon enough, the two sides clashed, each aiming attacks at the opponents weakest to them. Grass-types like Bulb A. and Electric-types like Elebelé struck at Team Risen's Seadra. Fairy-types like Wiggle E. and Fabalé launched attacks at the squads of Dratini and Dragonair. Poison-types like Tetch's Gengar, though, launched assaults on the Fairy-types, exploiting their vulnerability to poisonous attacks, and his Aerodactyl began flying around and smacking them with Steel Wing. The Seadra likewise began unleashing harsh Blizzard attacks on the Grass-types. And all the while, the other Flying-type and levitating Pokémon battled it out in the skies above.

Almost right away, Harmony lost track of Jaros, Thea, and Marie as the battle got to be so chaotic. As such, she quickly sought out the biggest target on the field and focused her efforts on it: The Dragonite. The fully evolved Dragon/Flying-type was wreaking havoc on the allied teams' Pokémon. If victory was to be theirs, Dragonite needed to go down.

"Cucubo, use Bone Club on Dragonite!" Harmony shouted. "Melelon, hit her with Flamethrower!"

Harmony's Cubone and Charmeleon nodded before rushing into action. Melelon unleashed a wave of flames from his mouth at the Dragonite, while Cucubo leaped up and hit her in the forehead with his bone. Neither attack was all that effective, but they did their intended job of getting Dragonite's attention.

"Blast them away with Dragon Pulse!" Dragonite's Trainer, a Team Risen Grunt, ordered.

Dragonite opened her jaws wide and released a powerful purple and orange dragon-shaped beam of energy at the two, knocking them aside. However, as she did so, Poreore managed to hit her hard in the back with a Water Gun, soaking her, before Elebelé leaped onto her back and fried her with a harsh blast of electricity. Seeing this, Spark sent his Jolteon to join in with an Electric attack, as did all the other friendly Electric-types nearby. After a few moments, Dragonite finally fell, knocked out cold.

"Great job, everyWHOA!" Harmony shouted just as she ducked under Aerodactyl, who swooped down low and hit anything that came close to him with his wings.

"Paul E., Bubblebeam on Aerodactyl!" Jaros ordered from nearby, his Poliwhirl managing to ground the Fossil Pokémon with a powerful barrage of bubbles.

Tetch growled as he saw this, making his way through the battle around him until he found himself squared off with Jaros and his team. "Back for more?! Surprised your head is still in one piece after last time!"

"Dude, you have NO idea how thick my skull can be!" Jaros replied with a grin. "Bulb A., Power Whip!"

"Aerodactyl, Ancient Power!" Tetch commanded. Aerodactyl beat his wings hard as they glowed orange, somehow actually managing to will slabs of rock out of the ground and fling them at Bulb A. Meanwhile, the Bulbasaur swung a single vine coated in brilliant energy, which managed to smash straight through the rocks before catching Aerodactyl between the eyes, knocking him out.

Growling loudly, his teeth grit hard, Tetch sent his Gengar and Alakazam to attack Bulb A. 2-on-1 while he tackled Jaros to the ground, clutching his throat with one hand and trying to choke him. Hypen O., who had just knocked out a Weepinbell, tried to rush in to help, but was cut off by Tetch's remaining Pokémon, a Machamp and a Golem.

"Did you really think you could beat me?!" Tetch yelled, raising a fist in the air with the intent to bring it down on Jaros' skull.

"...Nope," Jaros gagged, still grinning. "Just...distract you…"

Tetch blinked, confused, before finding himself with mud in his eyes. He tried to wipe it away, but quickly found himself getting kicked in the face by Thea while Grimer helped Jaros' Hypno deal with Golem and Machamp, smacking them aside with Mud Slaps as Hypen O. blasted them with a Shadow Ball.

"That was for blowing up my room, you jerk!" Thea shouted as she and Paul E. helped Jaros up. "Grimer, use Sludge Bomb!"

Grimer took in a deep breath and spat out a large brown glob of sludge at Golem. The sludge blew apart hard all over Golem's face, sending him tumbling back into Machamp. Tetch glared at Thea with rage, until he saw something swoop down from the sky toward him. It was Marie's Charizard, who grabbed Tetch by the coat and swung him backward into Alakazam. Charizard then swung his tail hard, sending scorching embers from it to burn Gengar hard. Tetch slowly got back up as his team gathered around him, just as Marie stepped up to face him.

"...So, you're the one who broke into my house and attacked my little girl?" Marie asked as Charizard landed next to her. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Machamp, Cross Chop!" Tetch roared in rage, his Machamp rushing forward with all four of his arms crossed in an X.

"Dragon Claw!" Marie shouted to Charizard, his claws beginning to glow with a violent green energy. The two struck at each other, but Charizard was too fast, slashing Machamp hard. He then grabbed hold of Machamp's arms, flew up into the air, did a quick somersault before hurling him at Golem, knocking the two out.

Tetch had had enough at this point, about to rush Marie himself. Before he could, though, Licki T. got right in front of him. The Lickitung then gave Tetch one giant lick with his giant tongue, causing Tetch's whole body to shiver and freeze up before he fell to the ground, completely paralyzed.

"Good job, Licki T.!" Jaros commented, high-fiving the Normal-type before looking around at the other Team Risen members who had been watching the battle unfold. "Anyone else feel like becoming a lollipop today?!"

The grunts of Team Risen, who were already on the losing side of the battle, clearly found themselves with zero chance at this point. One by one, they each recalled whatever Pokémon that they had left and raised their arms in surrender. Jaros and the others smiled in relief, Harmony running up to meet them while the remaining Flying-types came down to the ground in victory.

"Looks like we won!" Harmony cheered.

"Not yet," Jaros pointed out. "We've still got the head honcho to deal with."

"Then let's pop in and say 'Hello'," Candela suggested as she, Blanche, and Spark joined the quartet and their Pokémon.

"Everyone else, round up the Team Risen Trainers for transport!" Blanche ordered all the other Team Mystic, Valor, and Instinct Trainers before addressing Thea and the others. "You're with us!"

"Right!" Thea exclaimed as the seven of them entered the base. "Let's go get Mew back!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS originally gonna have Jaros beat Tetch one-on-one, but in the end, I decided that didn't make a lot of sense. Tetch totally wiped the floor with him AND Harmony before, so beating him here would be weird. Also, it felt more important to show everyone working together as a group to save the day from a legitimate threat.
> 
> Anyway, that's about it for this chapter. Next time, the gang heads into Risen HQ to face Trask, who will be more than a little prepared for the team. Ja né!


	5. Chapter 5

Jaros moaned pathetically as he looked up at the rather long stairwell leading up through Team Risen's HQ. Sure enough, according to information being fed to them through their phones, Mew was being held in a room somewhere in the higher floors. Unfortunately, most of their Pokémon, specifically those that could fly or levitate, were tired from the initial brawl outside and needed a chance to catch their breath, and all of the elevators were locked by key cards, meaning the only way up was the long way.

"...This is probably a bad time to mention I was an asthmatic as a child," Jaros muttered. "And I'm still kinda winded from Tetch trying to choke me out earlier."

"Sorry, but there's no other way up," Blanche declared, making her way to the stairs. "C'mon, let's get going."

Jaros groaned, but followed along nonetheless. Sure enough, it was a LONG climb, one that tested their overall fitness. By the time they were getting toward the top, everyone looked to be exhausted and red in the face.

"I think it's just a couple of floors up from here…!" Spark said between breaths, looking at his phone. "The scanning equipment in the helicopters are showing a huge amount of Psychic energy not far away...!"

"Remind me...to kick Trask...in the butt for this stairwell…!" Jaros huffed, sweat rolling down his face.

"And that's AFTER the one I give him…!" Thea added, who was likewise looking ready to drop.

"Here!" Candela declared, reaching a door with her phone. "Signal's just a few meters past this door!"

"Then let's end this!" Jaros yelled, manning up a bit and kicking the door hard...only for it to not budge much at all, and instead send pain rippling through his leg. "Gah...Son of a...WHY?!"

"...Uhh, because it says 'Pull to open'," Harmony explained, pointing to a sign on the door before doing just as it said, pulling it open.

Jaros groaned as he limped after the others through the door. "So does the TARDIS, and it can be pushed open…"

The others rolled their eyes as they continued along the hallway ahead of them. After a little while, they came to a large room with computers all around the walls and a holding pen in the center wired to some sort of satellite. Thea's eyes widened in concern as she saw Mew sitting inside, wires set to its temples and sending shocks through its body.

"MEW!" Thea cried, running ahead of the group to save her friend, only to be cut off by a beam of energy cutting into the floor in front of her.

Looking up, the group watched as the one who fired the beam floated down to meet them. It looked like some sort of robotic version of Mew, only silver, taller, leaner, and meaner. It eyed the team with deadly red eyes.

"Welcome!" a voice declared, everyone looking ahead and spotting Trask at a console. "I'd like to introduce Android Mewtwo, an early test of Mew's capabilities under my control!"

"Android...Mewtwo…?" Marie asked, baffled.

"Its brainwaves are designed to resemble that of a Pokémon, so it seemed like the optimal test subject," Trask explained. "And with Mew under my control, it now possesses all of Mew's powers. I felt it necessary to bring such powers online, since you seem adamant about stopping me."

"Trask!" Jaros yelled. "Three things: One, you're a psychopath! Two, you're a criminal! And three, that was an INSANE amount of stairs!"

Trask's eyes narrowed, unamused. "You obviously can't understand my vision for the future, same as that fool, Professor Willow."

"You'll understand if we don't buy any plan that includes kidnapping, assault, and attacking a little girl in her sleep as something that's part of the solution for this world!" Harmony challenged.

"Pokémon have been weakened and held back by humanity for too long!" Trask argued. "Weakling Trainers preventing them from being the powerful, savage, almighty forces they were meant to be! You run around, stuffing them in devices you don't deserve, and pamper them with things like 'love', teaching them fancy new moves when all they needed was raw power!"

"You're wrong!" Thea shouted suddenly, catching everyone off guard and causing Mew to weakly look up at her. "Pokémon aren't forced to do any of that! They could leave us and their Poké Balls at any time! They need people as much as we need them!"

"What would a child know about a Pokémon's needs?" Trask countered.

"More than you, it looks like!" Thea accused before looking into Mew's eyes. "...Mew, I know you're scared of Trainers, and I understand why! You want to be free, and you can be! But not being a Trainer so you could always feel safe around me...that was wrong."

Mew watched on as Thea's eyes started to water, all while continuing. "Instead of just telling you that you'd never have to worry about that with me, I made you think it was just because I wasn't a Trainer. And because I wasn't, I wasn't able to do anything to save you before. And I'm so sorry..."

"Ugh, all of this sentimental talk is making me want to vomit!" Trask groaned, hitting a control device on his wrist as both it and Android Mewtwo's eyes blinked red. "I'm removing you from my headquarters one way or another, and then I'm using Mew's power to return all of the world's Pokémon into the creatures they were meant to be!"

"No way!" Marie shouted as she and the others all drew balls from their belts, releasing Charizard, Paul E., Cucubo, Grimer, Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon in a line in front of them. "We won't let it end like this!"

Trask smirked evilly, tossing an Ultra Ball that brought out his own Pokémon: A shiny green Dragonite. "Then let's see which of us is right the old fashioned way: Through battle!"

Thea and the others' Pokémon immediately charged Trask's Dragonite and Android Mewtwo, unleashing Ember, Bubble, Mud Slap, Thunder Shock, and Water Gun attacks on the duo. However, Android Mewtwo managed to stop all the attacks aimed for it, while Dragonite simply powered through, shrugging the attacks off like they were nothing. Dragonite then beat her wings hard, smacking away Cucubo, Flareon, and Paul E., while Android Mewtwo telekinetically flung Vaporeon, Grimer, Jolteon, and Charizard across the room. However, Charizard managed to stretch his wings out, catching himself being sent tumbling to the ground and landing safely.

"Now, who needs another demonstration of my power?" Trask inquired, folding his arms confidently.

"I do!" Marie shouted, pulling a Poké Ball from her belt. "Venusaur, you're up!"

Hurling the Poké Ball, Marie unleashed her Venusaur, who gave a roar at her opponents. Charizard quickly joined her, the two giving each other a smile and a nod before looking back to their opponents, with Charizard squared off with Android Mewtwo while Venusaur stood face-to-face with Dragonite.

"Venusaur, Razor Leaf!" Marie ordered. "Charizard, Dragon Claw!"

"Dragonite, Steel Wing!" Trask roared. "Android Mewtwo, Thunder!"

The two sides immediately moved to attack each other. Venusaur launched several razor sharp leaves at Dragonite, cutting along her sides, but the Dragon/Flying-type merely powered through again as her wings glowed a shimmering metallic grey colour. Dragonite then slammed her wings into Venusaur's skull, causing her to back off a bit, but she held firm nonetheless. Meanwhile, Charizard slashed at Android Mewtwo with glowing green claws, who merely grabbed hold of Charizard by the neck and unleashed a massive blast of electricity that sent him tumbling to the ground.

"That robot's somehow able to use all of the most powerful moves Mew is capable of!" Spark observed from the sidelines.

"And that Dragonite is stronger than any other of her species that I've ever seen!" Blanche noted.

"Well, are we gonna sit here and watch all day, or are we gonna fight?!" Candela yelled at her fellow team leaders.

Spark smirked, the three drawing new Poké Balls from their belts. "Like you've gotta ask!"

Just as Android Mewtwo raised a hand, looking to unleash a mighty Blizzard attack on Charizard, the three team leaders sent out new Pokémon: A Raichu, a Nidoqueen, and a Ninetales. They intercepted the attack, with Ninetales and Raichu fizzling out the Blizzard with twin blasts of fire and electricity.

"Nidoqueen, back up Venusaur with a Poison Jab!" Blanche commanded, her Nidoqueen unleashing a glowing purple punch to Dragonite's chin as the latter was harassing Venusaur with close-range Steel Wings. The fully evolved Dragon Pokémon immediately backed off.

"Ninetales, Feint Attack!" Candela shouted. Her Fire-type Fox Pokémon leaped up into the air as she glowed with dark violet energy before landing behind Android Mewtwo, kicking it in the back with her hind legs.

"Raichu, Brick Break!" Spark ordered, to which Raichu ran at Android Mewtwo and swung his tail. The end of Raichu's tail glowed white as he slammed it down across Android Mewtwo's skull, managing to leave a tiny dent in it.

"Can't believe we've been reduced to just spectating," Jaros growled to Harmony and Thea as the others did battle.

"Maybe not," Harmony replied before pointing to Mew's cell. "With Trask busy, we might be able to break Mew free."

"Good idea!" Thea whispered, perking up. "C'mon!"

As such, the trio and their Pokémon quickly made their way around the battle going on. With Trask's attention off of them, they managed to sneak around to the holding pen, where Mew was having its power diverted to Android Mewtwo. Jaros immediately ran up and tried to pry it open with his bare hands, but received an electric shock for his troubles.

"Gah, WHY me?!" Jaros cried out.

"Okay, I'm ten, and even I know not to try stuff like that," Thea pointed out in a deadpan tone.

"Cucubo, you're immune to electric shocks, try using your Bone Club!" Harmony suggested. Her Cubone immediately ran in and smashed the side of the pen with his bone. It seemed to do a little damage, bending the bars of it slightly, but not enough to break them.

"Grimer, try using Acid on the bars!" Thea suggested, her Grimer spitting out violet, corrosive acid from his mouth onto the bars. Sure enough, they started to smolder a bit.

"What the-?!" Trask demanded, suddenly hearing the commotion behind him. "GET AWAY FROM THAT CAGE!"

Trask immediately hurled another Ultra Ball, releasing a Dragonair to attack to group, the Dragon Pokémon's tail filled with Water-type energy. Jaros and Harmony immediately circled around the pen to face him, Paul E. and Cucubo standing in front of them, just before Dragonair swung her tail at the two Pokémon, knocking them into their Trainers, who in turn crashed against the side of the cage, getting a harsh shock for their troubles before all four fell to the ground.

"Do you see now?!" Trask asked the group, his trio of Pokémon immediately turning their attention to their other opponents and blasting them with Thunder and twin Dragon Breath attacks. "Do you see the difference in power between those who allow their Pokémon to be the brutal beasts they were meant to be, and those who raise their Pokémon with ideals like love and cooperation?! If not, I'll demonstrate: The former is still standing, and the latter are weaklings who have fallen at their feet!"

Jaros, despite the pain he was in, chuckled a little as he started to stir. "...Fallen? Dude, I could do this all freaking day…"

"So would any real Trainer faced with some blabber-mouthed psycho like you…!" Harmony groaned as she and Cucubo started to get back up to their feet, followed by Jaros and Paul E.

"You're both absolutely pathetic, you know that?" Trask inquired, all while Charizard, Venusaur, Raichu, Nidoqueen, and Ninetales were tossed aside by Android Mewtwo's Psychic. "What can you both do to stop me where your peers have failed?"

"Heh...let's find out!" Jaros yelled, a smile on his face as Paul E. and Cucubo readied themselves for battle. Before they could attack, though, the two Pokémon started to glow bright white, the glowing enveloping their bodies as they began to expand in size.

"Their Pokémon…!" Blanche observed. "They're both evolving!"

Soon enough, the glowing subsided. Paul E. had gone from Poliwhirl to the much stronger Poliwrath, flexing his expanded muscles as he felt new power ripple through him. Cucubo, meanwhile, had evolved from Cubone into Marowak, spinning his much larger and thicker bone with both hands.

"Dragonair, finish them already!" Trask ordered, Dragonair's tail glowing with blue, water-like energy. "Aqua Tail!"

"Paul E., Ice Punch!" Jaros shouted, his Poliwrath charging at Dragonair with a fist filled with icy energy. The two attacks collided, Dragonair's tail getting encased in a block of ice while Paul E. was pushed back a few feet.

"Cucubo, Earthquake!" Harmony commanded, her Marowak leaping up and slamming the ground hard with his bone. The slam sent white shockwaves through the floor that hit Dragonair hard, shattering the ice and knocking him out.

Meanwhile, as all of this went on, Grimer kept spraying acid over the bars of the holding pen as Thea watched on. Eventually, the bars fell apart into small chucks of metal. Thea smiled at the success, reaching in to pull Mew free, only to be shocked by the wires connected to its temples.

"Eek!" Thea cried out in pain, though she still pulled on Mew, trying to free it desperately. "No! I won't...let go! _**MEW!**_ "

Hearing its name called out by its friend, Mew's eyes opened wide as it could finally pierce through the pain that had been rippling through its body. Its eyes glowed bright blue as it forcibly removed the wires telekinetically, then proceeded to cave in the holding pen as it, Thea, and Grimer tumbled across the ground. Thea shook off the pain and looked down at Mew in relief as the small Psychic-type laid in her arms.

"Mew!" Thea exclaimed, getting a tiny lick from her friend. "Hee hee, you're okay!"

"NO!" Trask bellowed, watching as Mew was freed. "...Well, despite that, Android Mewtwo still managed to absorb enough of Mew's energy! If I can't have my Resurgence, I'll at least eliminate all of you!"

Thea got back to her feet as Android Mewtwo powered up to attack her and Mew with a Psychic attack. "Mew, I know how you feel about Trainers, but what do you say we take this thing down as a team?"

Mew thought it over quickly before giving a friendly nod, Thea smiling in return. "Okay! Mew, use Psychic!"

Mew chirped happily as its eyes glowed blue, sending out a Psychic blast as Android Mewtwo unleashed its own. The two attacks collided in mid-air, sending out shock waves that tore up the floor beneath them as they struggled against each other. However, Mew's Psychic power eventually powered through, smashing into the robot hard and encasing it in blue energy. To Trask's horror, Mew then telekinetically crushed Android Mewtwo's body until it was little more than a crumpled up metal ball that fell harmlessly to the floor.

"It...It can't be!" Trask shouted incredulously. "I won't let you have this victory!"

"Hey!" Marie called back as he turned to look at her as she, the other Trainers, and their Pokémon stood gathered up, facing Trask's Dragonite. "Forget about us?!"

Trask's teeth grit together so hard he could almost taste blood in his mouth. "Grrr, Dragonite, HYPER BEAM!"

"Venusaur, Solar Beam!" Marie ordered. The two Pokémon immediately unleashed massive beams of energy at one another, colliding hard enough to send a mass of smoke all around. As it started to clear, though, Dragonite found herself facing a number of very worn-down-yet-angry opponents. Raichu rammed into her gut, his body electrified, before Paul E. clobbered her with Bubbles. Nidoqueen then bit her in the wing, and then swung her into Charizard, who grabbed her by the tail and tossed her into Trask, the two crashing into a wall before falling to the ground, utterly defeated.

Trask groaned, slowly picking himself up as his enemies gathered around him. "...You know...it's entirely possible that we all got off on the wrong-"

Before he could finish, Trask was punched out by, of all people, Thea, leaving everyone with the image of the mighty leader of Team Risen being punched into unconsciousness by a ten-year-old girl. The group and their Pokémon all stood dumbstruck at her, who merely looked back at them, looking a little embarrassed.

"...What?" Thea asked, slouching a little. "It's been a REALLY long day…"

"Ugh, tell me about it," Jaros groaned, letting himself fall on his butt as the number of injuries mixed with fatigue finally set in. "Can we go home now...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...So, embarrassingly true story, I actually WAS asthmatic as a kid, I can still get kinda raspy at times, I'm kinda out of shape, AND I'm afraid of heights, something I inherited from my mom. Soooo, yeah, climbing that many stairs would NOT have been fun for me, and I may have even died from a heart attack. lol
> 
> Regarding Trask's Pokémon. The Android Mewtwo kinda speaks for itself, as does the explanation I gave for it in-story. As for the green Dragonite, I am aware of the fact that, for the time being, there are no Shiny Pokémon in Go. So, yes, I fully admit I kinda screwed the rules of the world here, but it was mostly done to help make Trask's Dragonite visually special to match how powerful she was.
> 
> And yes, I'm aware of how silly it might be that the big bad of the story was finally taken out by a sucker punch from a 10-year-old girl...and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the intention. I WAS gonna have either Jaros or Marie do it, but I ultimately opted to go with the sight that would induce the most laughter and ensure that less people forgot about it. lol
> 
> Anyway, technically, the last chapter was considered an epilogue for the story, but either way, come check out how the story ends next. Ja né!


	6. Epilogue

Marie waved up at one of the many construction workers currently fixing the horrid damage done to her house. Apparently, this had been paid off by Professor Willow, in exchange for assisting in shutting down Team Risen. It seemed only fair, after all, since part of her house being blown up was what started the whole mess.

"...Well, I see the repairs are well underway," a voice said, Marie turning to see Jaros and Paul E. walking up to meet her, the latter walking with the aid of a cane.

"Jaros!" Marie greeted. "I thought you were supposed to limit walking to around your own house for four weeks. It's only been two."

Jaros smirked slyly. "Yeah, but then I went back to the hospital and let Renee-I MEAN, Doctor Jackson, give me a physical, and she thought I was fit enough to get out some more."

"...Uh huh," Marie replied dryly while Paul E. rolled his eyes. "So what are you doing here?"

"I came to see my favourite niece off on her journey, duh," Jaros answered. "She hasn't left yet, has she?"

Marie giggled. "No, she's still getting ready...Which, I assume means she's standing in front of a mirror trying to get her new Trainer look just right."

"Sounds like her mother," Jaros noted with a grin, only to get a light elbow to the rib from her older sister.

"As well as her bratty uncle, if I recall," Marie joked before turning a little serious. "...To be honest, I'm a little worried about her. I guess now I know how our mom must've felt when two of her kids decided to go out there and try to catch 'em all."

Jaros smiled, patting Marie on the shoulder. "Yeah, but we know Thea. She'll be just fine. Besides, we turned out alright."

"That remains to be seen!" an all-too-familiar voice called as Harmony jogged up to meet the two, Cucubo jogging alongside of her. "You're both kind of rash and impulsive! Not necessarily the best role models for a little girl!"

"Okay, what are YOU doing here?" Jaros inquired. "Just come to pester me?"

"Well, as it so happens, 'DOCTOR JACKSON' wanted me to observe how you were improving," Harmony answered with a sneer. "Besides, Aunt Harmony wants to see off Loyalist City's newest Trainer, too."

"...'Aunt Harmony'?" Marie asked, blinking in confusion. "When did you two get married?"

"Please, she's more like the whiny little sister I never had!" Jaros grunted.

Harmony growled. "Yeah? Wanna put your Poké Balls where your mouth is? We never DID settle that tie before!"

"Oh man, you two NEVER change…"

The group immediately looked toward the door to the house, where Thea stood. She was wearing a red coat over her white Snorlax shirt, blue jeans, and white and blue sneakers. She had a black and blue backpack slung over her shoulders, carrying all of her essential equipment, and her Grimer's Poké Ball was set on her belt.

"Thea!" Marie called as her daughter ran over to meet her family and friends. "You sure you've got everything, right? Potions, spare Poké Balls, cell phone, food, clean underwear-"

"Moooom!" Thea whined, getting a little huffy. "I've got everything! I'll be fine, I promise."

Marie sighed hard, patting her daughter on the head. "I know. I know, sweetie. Just be safe, stay strong, and remember, I'm always a Charizard flight away if anything bad happens."

"And make sure to visit your uncle every once in a while, huh?" Jaros added with a grin. "Maybe someday, me and you could have a battle."

Thea nodded, quickly finding herself in a group hug before pulling away. "Okay, I gotta go! I love you guys!"

"Love you too, sweetheart!" Marie called as her daughter ran along the road, headed down the once-familiar trail of adventure that would take her who-knows-where…

* * *

Thea let out a tiny groan as she pushed a branch out of her way, having made her way through Loyalist National Park. "I sure hope there's plenty of cool Pokémon around here...Otherwise, I should've just stuck to the road…!"

Suddenly, to her surprise, a small chirp was heard in the tree above Thea. Looking up, she smiled widely as Mew floated down to greet her. She quickly gave the Psychic-type a hug, who was eager to return it.

"Mew!" Thea exclaimed. "You came to see me off on my journey too, didn't you?"

Mew nodded, smiling despite the slight tinge of sadness in its eyes as Thea went on. "...Aw, it's okay, Mew. No matter what happens or where I go, we'll always be friends, and we'll always find time for each other. Okay?"

Mew nodded once again, seeming to understand before floating back up to the sky. It soared away in a blue bubble of Psychic energy, Thea waving goodbye until it disappeared from sight. With her friend gone to wherever it went when they weren't hanging out, Thea decided to continue along her path...only to stop suddenly as literally the last Pokémon she expected to find in this area appeared before her: A lone Cyndaquil.

"WOW!" Thea yelled. "I didn't even know Cyndaquil could appear around here!"

Cyndaquil likewise seemed excited to see Thea. The flames on his back rose as he stood in Thea's way, clearly challenging her. Thea smiled, reaching into her pocket to draw an empty Poké Ball.

"Okay.." Thea said, clutching the ball as Cyndaquil ran forward. "...Let's dance!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the story... ... ...and as soon as she was done reading, my niece immediately asked about a possible sequel. I told her I'd THINK about it. lol
> 
> So, about Cyndaquil. I felt justified leaving him for the very end, seeing as how we never actually see him battle. And as for why Cyndaquil specifically, it's because of a drawing Emmybomber did of Cynthia as a Pokémon Trainer with a Cyndaquil as her partner. If you've been to my blog and watched the video of her opening her birthday gifts, you've probably seen it, since my mom gave her a framed version of the drawing to put up. She also used it on all the treat bags... ...It was a Pokémon themed birthday party. Hence why I wrote this, actually.
> 
> And before anyone asks, as far as I know, the 'physical' joke went over her head, so don't anyone give me grief for that. :P
> 
> Anyway, that's all for this story. Lemme know what you all thought, and we'll see if I ever do a sequel someday. If I do, expect it to be even more removed from how Go works, though, and include more Pokémon. Ja né!


End file.
